Communal Water Sovereignty: Acequias in New Mexico

Written by, Olivia Romo NM Acequia Association Staff

For the Indo-Hispano people of New Mexico the Acequia is our birth canal, our sacred place of emergence, existence, and sustainability in the arid desert we call home. According to esteemed local author and historian Juan Estevan Arellano, the word “acequia” derives from the Arabic word “assaqiya” meaning someone bearing water. New Mexico’s acequias are a synthesis of cultural, agricultural and legal traditions inherited from the Moors of North Africa via Spain, and the indigenous cultures of the Americas. The specific institution of the acequia took root in arid areas throughout present-day northern Mexico and Southwestern United States from the sixteenth through nineteenth centuries. An acequia is the physical structure for irrigation that is comprised of a common diversion from a spring or stream, these humble earthen ditches constructed and dug with hand tools, distribute water through the simple force of gravity flow. One basic principle that acequias and similar systems have in common is that water is so essential to life that all living beings have a right to water for survival. Although specific customs and traditions vary by region, watershed, or village, the principle of sharing water underlies the basic operation of the system.

Water, like the common lands, historically has been viewed as a communal resource. Although a family might have a derecho, or a use-right, attached to their respective property, the water itself is treated as a mutual blessing. Use of water from the acequia is conditioned on the obligation to contribute to the cooperative maintenance of the system such as providing needed labor for cleaning and emergency repairs. Due to the chronic water scarcity facing communities, the acequias over time developed intricate customs for coping with water shortages that were localized. These customs and traditions are collectively referred to as the repartimiento de agua, or the dividing/sharing of the water. According to custom, water in abundance is shared equally. Likewise, the shortage of water is also shared such that the amount of water allocated to landowners is reduced so that everyone gets at least some water. The delicate balance of rights and responsibilities in the process of sharing scarce water are characteristics of acequias that have persisted since their establishment.

The fundamental tenets of acequia management have changed little over the course of more than three centuries in New Mexico. As New Mexico became a territory of the United States, the acequia communal form of governance was codified in the state constitution and acequias were recognized as political subdivisions of the state. This gives acequias the same authority as local governments, and thus the same responsibilities. Every acequia is governed by a commission of three members and one elected official, the mayordomo, who manages the day to day water distribution and maintenance. Today’s acequias in New Mexico are concentrated in predominantly rural counties that have the highest rates of poverty and Indo-Hispano population. Up until two generations ago, many of our families made most of their livelihood from their ranchitos, or small scale farms and ranches. However, with the advent of a global food system that favors agribusiness, our communities adapted by becoming wage earners while also continuing their agricultural traditions on a part-time basis. Today, our communities face commodification of water and land, gentrification, and the challenges of keeping land-based livelihoods economically viable for low-income families. While acequias have a long history of dealing with water scarcity, there is no precedent for the current water crisis that faces New Mexico. Decades of above average rainfall coupled with an overdependence on groundwater for supplying cities and towns have set the stage for major reallocations of agricultural water.The cultural and legal tradition we inherited from Spain and Mexico recognized communal property. When we were confronted with Manifest Destiny, communal land and water was privatized. Although our cultural worldview is that Water is Life and water is a don divino or divine gift, New Mexico law treats water like a marketable commodity. In New Mexico, all water is “appropriated” meaning that any new use of water can only come about at the expense of an existing use through the process known as a “water transfer.” These water transfers have to be approved by the State Engineer, who is the Governor- appointed water czar of New Mexico. Acequias have legally challenged water transfers through protests and in 2003, through the efforts of political organizing by the NM Acequia Association a law was passed that gave acequias the legal authority to deny water transfers. Acequias have argued that treating water like a commodity would unravel our cultural heritage and our future water security. According to a report written by the NM Acequia Association, the prevailing assumption is that water for new growth will come from agricultural uses thereby fueling an emerging “water market.” According to studies of future supply and demand, acequia communities are projected to lose 30-60 percent of their water rights base and farmland to development in the next 40 years. The concern is that acequias in areas with high water demands may be driven to extinction by water transfers. We are in the increasingly common position of having to defend our land and water base while also trying to rebuild our local food systems and reclaim our agricultural sovereignty. Protecting acequia water is a social justice issue where thousands of farmers, ranchers, and organizations are fighting tirelessly for the continuation of these ancient systems and ways of life.

The New Mexico Acequia Association was founded in 1988 on the belief that a strong statewide organization was necessary to enable us to secure our water rights and to develop the capabilities that our community-based acequia associations will need to contend with the political, legal and economic challenges we face now and in the next century. We believe that our ability to grow our own food with the water from our acequias, the lands of our families, and the seeds of our ancestors makes us a free people. Our self-determination depends on retaining our ancestral lands and water under the stewardship that we inherited from our parents and grandparents. Our communities have been organizing, cultivating acequia lands with ancestral crops, and continuously improving farm and ranch soils to enhance efficient use of water. Members and acequia families have actively been participating in the maintenance and governance of acequias and resist transfers. Acequieros are constantly planting, learning, and adapting to the environment and stringent water laws. We have become like the giant cottonwoods living off the banks of the ditches preserving the water we have in order to cultivate clusters of healthy parciantes who blossom and are too rooted to just displace with a corporate hand.

United we dug the acequias and united we defend nuestra agua!